There are a number of important and happy events that often occur in people's lives that they want to share with family and friends. A few examples include getting married and having a baby. Every year in the U.S. alone there are over four million babies born. There are often one or more stages that the person wishes to share news about with others. This is often done with some kind of written announcement or is otherwise just communicated directly in person, by telephone, etc. With a pregnancy, a woman might wish to announce she is pregnant, announce what sex the baby is if determined by a sonogram, and/or announce the birth of the baby. This information is exciting news, especially for grandparents, other family members, and close friends. With a marriage, a couple might wish to announce their engagement, the wedding itself, or even a later anniversary. Announcements and/or invitations relating to things such as graduations, retirements, birthdays, or adoptions are other examples of events that people wish to share with family and friends.
Currently, information about these events is often told to others either verbally or in writing, such as in a birth announcement. It has also gotten popular to send pictures or video around by email or to post pictures and other information on popular social networking sites. The problem with using many of these sites is that whatever information you post to the site on your page is generally available for everyone to see. If you want to announce an event of some kind that you are inviting people to, you don't want anyone that is not invited to view the information. Also, many announcements regarding your personal life are again not for a wide audience but instead for select friends and family.